The Appellate Division on Wednesday ordered status quo for four weeks over a High Court verdict that asked the government authorities to restore a 30 per cent quota for the descendants of freedom fighters while recruiting officers in the civil service.
It also set August 7 for holding further hearings in two separate petitions鈥攐ne filed by the government on June 9 and another one filed by two Dhaka University students on July 9鈥攕eeking permission to appeal against the High Court鈥檚 June 5 verdict.
A five-judge bench chaired by chief justice Obaidul Hassan pronounced a written order in a crowded courtroom after holding a brief hearing.
Attorney general AM Amin Uddin later told 抖阴精品 that the status quo means that the High Court鈥檚 verdict for the restoration of the 30 per cent quota cannot be executed right now.
鈥楾he government authorities will now need to follow the 2018 Cabinet Division notification that abolished all kinds of quotas while making new recruitments during the period,鈥� he added.聽
The chief justice thanked the two students for filing the second petition seeking reform of the quota system.
The Appellate Division, in its written order, asked the agitating students to return to their classrooms.
The court also directed all the heads of all educational institutions to take their students to classrooms from the streets and ensure a congenial atmosphere in all educational institutions.
The court suggested the agitating students place their arguments about the quota through lawyers, and it would consider their arguments while disposing of pending petitions on the same issues.聽
The court said that it issued the status quo order as the High Court had yet to publish the full text of the verdict.
The attorney general informed the Appellate Division that the High Court鈥檚 full verdict remained final.
On July 4, the Appellate Division refused to stay the High Court verdict, stating that the pressure of movement cannot change a Supreme Court verdict.
It also set July 11 for hearing the government鈥簊 appeal against the quota restoration verdict.
On Wednesday, the government prayed to the Appellate Division to hear its petition along with the latest petition filed by two students.聽
Anthropology department student Al Sadi Bhuiyan, the president of the Dhaka University Journalists Association, and Urdhu department student Ahnaf Sayeed Bhuiyan filed the second petition seeking a stay on the High Court鈥檚 verdict amidst the countrywide anti-quota street movement that began on July 1.
鈥業t is our humble prayer for staying the operation of the High Court verdict as the government authorities have remained in a dilemma if the quota system will be applied or not while making ongoing recruitment,鈥� the attorney general told the court.
The chief justice called the two students 鈥箇histleblowers鈥�, as lawyer Shah Monjurul Haque appeared for them, stating that they were in no way involved in the ongoing movement.
Monjurul said that the two students wanted to reform the quota system.
